{"id":5031,"date":"2017-12-09T09:50:09","date_gmt":"2017-12-09T14:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=5031"},"modified":"2025-08-23T17:05:53","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T21:05:53","slug":"the-dark-damp-pursuit-of-misty-munchies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2017\/12\/09\/the-dark-damp-pursuit-of-misty-munchies\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dark, Damp Pursuit of Misty Munchies"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_5032\" style=\"width: 3034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/27\/2017\/12\/Several-slugs-happily-consume-the-flesh-of-an-abandoned-jack-o-lantern..jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5032\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5032\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/27\/2017\/12\/Several-slugs-happily-consume-the-flesh-of-an-abandoned-jack-o-lantern..jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"3024\" height=\"4032\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/12\/Several-slugs-happily-consume-the-flesh-of-an-abandoned-jack-o-lantern..jpg 3024w, https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/12\/Several-slugs-happily-consume-the-flesh-of-an-abandoned-jack-o-lantern.-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/12\/Several-slugs-happily-consume-the-flesh-of-an-abandoned-jack-o-lantern.-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/12\/Several-slugs-happily-consume-the-flesh-of-an-abandoned-jack-o-lantern.-1200x1600.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 3024px) 100vw, 3024px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-5032\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Several slugs happily consume the flesh of an abandoned jack o&#8217; lantern.<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s late evening in early November.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>After day of rain, campus is teeming with wildlife looking for dinner.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The remains of a carved pumpkin from Halloween sit in the woods to decompose.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Slugs happily feed on the softened pumpkin flesh.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>A wet carpet of decomposing leaves makes the forest floor the perfect environment for these soft-bodied mollusks.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Slugs will eat just about anything that grows in a garden and are considered to be pests.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>These slugs are grateful for their nutritious meal and help dispose of the rotting pumpkin.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>More slimy friends surface in the wet grass.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The earthworm is hermaphroditic, like our friend the slug, and has both male and female sex organs.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Stopping to pick one off the paved path, the worm squiggles and struggles as if to escape.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>This is a reflex, a response to the salt on human skin.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Earthworms do not have lungs and take in oxygen through their skin.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>When earthworms burrow through the dirt they mix the soil, stirring in minerals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>A large, black bird with a straight bill swoops down into a field and begins to peck at the soft ground.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>He tosses an earthworm back into his mouth <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>American crows are one of the most intelligent species of bird.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>They are very social birds and thrive in areas densely populated by humans.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>They can be frequently found in parking lots and garbage dumps.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>American crows eat insects primarily, but are also known to munch on trash, carrion (dead animal flesh) and chicks stolen from other birds\u2019 nests.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>It may be cold and damp.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The trees are bare and the wind is harsh.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>But even the most unpleasant nights are filled with life.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The rain provides and the earth is grateful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0 \u00a0 It\u2019s late evening in early November.\u00a0 After day of rain, campus is teeming with wildlife looking for dinner.\u00a0 The remains of a carved pumpkin from Halloween sit in the woods to decompose.\u00a0 Slugs happily feed on the softened pumpkin flesh.\u00a0 A wet carpet of decomposing leaves makes the forest floor the perfect environment [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/151"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5031"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8765,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5031\/revisions\/8765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}